


Cave In

by silvermoongirl10



Series: Always Together [1]
Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt Colby, Hurt/Comfort, Worrying David, collapsing buildings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 19:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvermoongirl10/pseuds/silvermoongirl10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A routine drug bust at a warehouse soon turns into a rescue mission, after an explosion collapsing part of the warehouse leaves Colby injured on the inside and David on the outside desperately trying to find a way in to rescue his best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey Colby you almost finished in there?" asked David into his radio walking over to his and Colby's car.

" _Hey you can't rush perfection"_ replied Colby, his reply was a little jumpy through the radio and the echoes he made in replying in the warehouse he and a few others were currently searching for evidence of drugs they had received a tip about, but David heard him and scoffed.

"Perfection? Man you-"

_**BANG** _

_**CRASH** _

"COLBY!" yelled David into his radio, but the only reply was static, "Colby can you hear me?! Please Colby if you can hear me answer me right now!" shouted David desperately while looking on at the warehouse that had caved in on itself after an explosion. The warehouse where Colby was trapped somewhere. David was so focused on the destruction of the warehouse he missed Don shouting orders to find out what happened and get the emergency services to respond.

" _David?"_ David felt no relief from this reply; it was Agent Thomas Anderson who was talking on Colby's radio.

"Tom, where's Colby?"

" _He's about two feet away from me"_

"And?"

" _He's not moving. Hang on I'll try and get over to him"_

David held his breath. Colby wasn't moving. He was fine, he had to be. _Please let him be alive. Please!_

" _David"_ crackled the radio,

"Tom what's Colby's situation?"

" _He's alive, just unconscious"_

David breathed a sigh of relief, "how's his breathing?"

" _Fine, oh hang on he's coming round"_ Tom kept his finger on the transmitter so David could hear what was happening, _"how you doing Colby?"_

" _Like my head is killing me"_ mumbled Colby weakly,

" _I'll bet"_ comforted Tom; he then released the transmitter so David could talk,

"Don't worry Cole I'll get you otta there soon" promised David,

" _David? What you doing talking on a radio?"_ asked Colby,

"Colby don't you remember?" asked David worriedly,

" _Uh… oh now I do. You were complaining about how long I was taking"_

"That's right" chuckled David in relief,

" _No that's left"_ replied Colby, David could hear the smile in Colby's voice.

"Now is not the time for your lame jokes Colby" said David barley keeping his worry in check.

" _Actually I think it is the perfect time. Especially if you're the one getting me out, you take longer than me!"_

"Thanks Colby, just thanks"

" _You're welcome. Agh!"_

"Colby?! What's wrong?" Asked David as he gripped on the radio tightly.

" _Thin' my l'ft leg is brok'n"_ panted Colby; David was concerned by the slur and pain in Colby's voice.

"Colby just hang on ok?"

" _Got no'hin' else t' do"_

David saw Don approaching him, "David was Colby and the others still in there?"

"Yeah" replied David,

"Damn it!" exclaimed Don,

"Don do you know what happened?"

"Yeah one of the drug runners took the opportunity to destroy the drugs so no evidence would be found and thought he'd take some FBI agents out at the same time"

David scowled and wanted to find this drug runner and 'talk' to him, Don seemed to sense this so asked "what's their condition?"

Don succeed in distracting David's mind away from the drug runner, "I only know of Colby and Tom. Tom seems fine as he was able to get over to Colby; well Colby was unconscious and is now awake but reckons his left leg is broken. I'll Tom about the others"

Don nodded biting the inside of his lip and checked his watch, these alerted David to how worried Don really was and despite knowing this he still drew strength from Don.

"Hey Tom can you hear me?"

" _Loud and clear David"_

"Can you tell me the conditions and whereabouts of Henry and Sam? And also yours and Colby's whereabouts?"

" _Well Colby and I are in the south – east corner and are trapped. I'll call out to Henry and Sam to see how they are. But from where we were canvasing they should be on the north side, by the entrance actually"_

The radio was silent for a few moments when Tom then continued, _"right well scratch the last part, Henry is by the entrance and just has some cuts and Sam is down the east wall in the same condition as Henry and I. So Colby is the only unlucky one"_

"Is there any way you can get yourself and Colby towards the entrance?" asked Don,

" _Dunno, just let me check…"_

Don and David looked on in despair as there was another crashing sound as part of the warehouse collapsed.

"Tom?! Colby?!"

Silence.

"Colby! Tom!"

" _David?"_ Colby's voice seemed clearer possibly due to the imminent danger.

"Colby are you and Tom ok?"

" _I'm fine, well my condition hasn't worsened, but Tom went looking for a way out and got separated. He's fine though, he says he's about fifteen feet away from me on the east wall"_

"Right got it, hang in there buddy we'll get you out of there" said Don,

" _I'm counting on it"_

Don turned to David and patted his arm "we'll get him out of there"

"But we don't know how long it will take and we don't really know his condition!" protested David, his worry making its way to the front of his mind and taking control.

"I know David, but we _will_ get him out _alive_. You just have to believe it" Don nodded at David and then went over to the responding emergency services to tell them the locations of the trapped agents.

David looked forlornly at the warehouse, "we'll get you out buddy" he shook himself and then followed Don. Time to get to business.

* * *

 

~Fifteen minutes earlier~

" _Hey Colby you almost finished in there?"_

"Hey you can't rush perfection" sniggered Colby sharing a look with Tom Anderson.

" _Perfection? Man you-"_

_**BANG** _

_**CRASH** _

The last thought that Colby had before he blacked out was, _this is gonna hurt!_

It only seemed a few moments had past when Colby heard the muffled voice of Tom "fine, oh hang on he's coming round"

"Tom?" asked Colby, blinking up at the other agent.

Tom nodded and checked him for injuries.

* * *

 

~Just before the second collapse of the roof~

"Hey Colby I'm just gonna check to see if I can get us nearer to the entrance, ok?"

"Righ'" replied Colby, not registering that Tom had given him the radio as he was trying to keep as still as possible because of the pain he felt when trying to get into a more comfortable position. But soon found no matter what, lying on a concrete floor in a collapsed warehouse with a broken leg and most likely a concussion that he was going to stay uncomfortable until he was recused.

Colby was jerked from his thoughts when a part of the roof collapsed.

"TOM?!" called Colby,

"I'm ok!" replied Tom, "I just can't get back"

Colby then heard Tom call out "HENRY? SAM? YOU GUYS OK?"

"YEAH!" replied Henry and Sam.

Then Colby heard a sound coming from his hand and was confused that it sounded like David calling out, then after a moments silence he heard again "Colby! Tom!"

It was David! And the cloud of confusion suddenly vanished when Colby realized that he was the only one in the warehouse with a radio and knew then that he was the go – between him and the others in the warehouse and the rescue teams.

Colby felt himself growing tired, but woke himself up and was able to answer all of David's and Don's questions. After the radio had gone silent he felt the wave of tiredness hit him again and he struggled to cling onto staying awake but he knew he had a job to do and kept himself awake by running through everything that had happened on the case. But still his eyelids drooped and he thought, _you'd better hurry David. I don't know how long I can stay awake_.


	2. Chapter 2

David had taken to checking his watch like Don in stressful situations. It had been half an hour since the second collapse and the rescue crews said they were at the location where Agent Sam Parker was. This stressed David out to no end, even though he was happy Sam was getting out. But it had taken half an hour to get to Sam who was near the entrance and that meant it could take a couple of hours to get to Colby and Colby was the most seriously hurt out of the four trapped agents.

"You still with me Colby?" asked David into his radio,

" _Mmm"_

"Come on Colby you gotta give me more of a response instead of a hum for an answer"

" _M' s'ill her'"_

"The pain bad?"

" _Manageable"_

"Ok, well the rescue teams have got Sam out so we're coming buddy just hang in there"

" _Uh huh"_

David then got involved with helping to guide Sam out of the rubble trying to calm the worry for his best friend.

* * *

 

Colby was blinking, trying everything he could think of to keep himself awake. He was roused by Tom,

"Hey Colby I'm hearing movement from the entrance is that the rescue team getting Sam out?"

"Yea'"

"You ok buddy?"

"Uh huh"

"Colby? Did you get injured in the second collapse?"

"M' arm, thin' it's cut"

"Have you told David?" asked Tom worriedly, he couldn't see Colby and knew Colby kept injuries to himself and Colby's reply didn't comfort him in the slightest.

"No. Wou'd worry Dav'd, no'hin' he can d' 'til they ge' me ou'"

"Oh man" sighed Tom rubbing a hand across his head. He was completely cut off from anywhere and had no way of telling David he would need to bring in some medical supplies when they came for Colby and he had no way of trying to help Colby.

"Hey Colby you need to tell David to bring in some medical supplies"

"Why? You hurt?" asked Colby the cloud of pain and fogginess clearing from his mind because he thought his friend was hurt.

"No for you"

"I told you, I'm not telling David I've been hurt worse!" called Colby in reply, getting a little frustrated.

"Well he needs to bring it because it may take a little while to get to us and we're gonna need it ASAP"

"Tom! I told you-"

"Yeah I know, you're not telling David you've been hurt worse. So don't tell him"

"Huh? Tom I thought you wanted me to tell David he needs to bring some medical supplies"

"Yeah, but as you don't want to tell David about your new injury tell him it's for me"

"Clever idea Tom"

"Been known to happen"

"Not very often though"

"Shut up Granger and get on that radio"

"Kinda hard seeing as my leg is busted"

"You know what I mean" sighed Tom

"I know" chuckled Colby, grateful that Tom had managed to wake him up a bit. "Hey David you there?"

" _I'm here Colby, what's up?"_

"When you come mine and Tom's way you'd better bring some medical supplies"

" _Why you hurt worse?"_

Colby cringed he hated lying to David especially after the whole Chinese fiasco, but he didn't want David to drive himself mad with worry, so unfortunately it had to be done.

"Not me, Tom. He's got a cut to his right arm. It's not near any vital arteries as it's not bleeding bad" well Colby figured that he might as well tell David the condition of his new injury even if David thought he was talking about Tom. So Colby comforted himself in the knowledge that he wasn't completely lying to David.

" _Oh right, ok. I'll go get the supplies sorted now so they're ready for when we get to that part of the warehouse"_

"Much appreciated partner"

" _You're sounding better Colb"_

"Huh? What does that even mean?" asked Colby staring at the radio confused as if he was looking right at David.

" _No slur in your voice"_

"Oh right…er ok…well Tom just admitted his arm was cut…so…er…I became more alert…although I don't think that this alertness is gonna last much longer"

" _Just hang in there"_

"You've been saying that for the last half hour"

" _I have, haven't I? Don't worry we're gonna get you out of there"_

"David I'm fine stop worrying, stressing out isn't going to help the situation"

" _But-"_

"David, listen to me. I _know_ you're gonna get me out here ok? So calm down and use your brute strength and help the rescue team get me out of here!"

" _So now you're mocking me?"_

"Don't I always?"

" _Right I'm handing my radio over to Don, while I use 'my brute strength' and help the rescue team"_

"You do that" murmured Colby; the tiredness he had just gotten rid of was now coming back with a vengeance.

* * *

 

"Don take over with this will you? Despite Colby being trapped in the warehouse he is still managing to give me a headache" said David as he handed Don the radio and walked over to the rescue team and receiving the news that they were almost at Agent Henry Collins' position.

Don shot David a confused look and then still with a confused look on his face spoke into the radio, "Colby what did David mean by the statement, and I quote 'despite Colby being trapped in the warehouse he is still managing to give me a headache'?"

" _I apparently insulted him by telling him to use his brute strength and get me out of here"_

"I thought that would have been a compliment"

" _Well according to David anything I say that sounds like a compliment is actually me being sarcastic"_

"Well you gotta admit that is kinda true" smirked Don,

" _Ok fine, yeah I do mostly give David compliments when I'm being sarcastic but on this occasion I was actually complimenting him. For the record"_

"I believe ya buddy", Don waited for a response but was worried when there was none, "Colby?"

" _Gettin' harde' t' stay awake"_

"Just hang in there-"

" _And you'll get me out, save your breath. David has been telling me that since this whole thing started"_

Don then began laughing and bent over and he had no idea why Colby's statement had elicited this response from him. Maybe because of the familiarity of it coming from the continuous banter Colby and David shared even passing comments about their partner to other members of the team. Don received funny looks from the people on the scene but he just waved them off, David approached looking wary.

"Don?"

"Yeah" chuckled Don,

"You ok?" asked David.

"Uh huh", David looked sceptical. "Something Colby said"

"About me?"

"Yep"

David held his hand out for the radio and after being handed it he asked "Colby what have you been saying about me to Don?"

" _Jus' sayin' wha' a great partner you are"_

"Right"

" _Lov' you honey"_ David could hear the smile in Colby's voice and was about to reply but was interrupted by the howl of laughter Don let out. David, unknowingly, while watching Don's retreating figure had kept hold of the transmitter button and then let go to hear Colby ask,

" _Was tha' Don?"_

"Yep" replied David still watching Don in amazement,

" _Do I wanna know?"_ was Colby's confused response,

"No I don't think you do"

" _Dav'd I hear movemen' is tha' them getting Henry?"_

"Yeah it is so not too much longer"

" _Dav'd"_

"Yeah?"

" _You gotta keep talkin'"_

"Why? Normally you want me to shut up"

" _Findin' it really hard t' stay awake"_

David felt a jolt of worry but breathed calmly. "Wouldn't it be better if you talk to me? Because I'm not saying I'm boring but hearing someone talk might make you go to sleep faster"

" _Yea' there is tha'"_

"So talk to me"

" _Abo' wha'?"_

"Well you've got two older brothers you guys must have gotten up to something"

" _Well Nat, Ryan and I"_

"Hang on remind me how much older is Ryan and Nat than you and what is Nat short for?" the truth was David did know these things but if Colby was finding it hard to stay awake then David wanted Colby to tell him every detail.

" _Nat is short for Nathan, and Nat is four years older than me and Ryan is seven years older than me"_

"Awww so you were really the baby"

" _Shut up David"_

"Ok getting a little side tracked here, who do your nieces and nephews belong to?"

" _Belong to?"_

"You know what I mean"

" _Ryan has got two boys, Toby, who is six and William who is four and Ryan has a daughter, Rosie who is one"_

"So has Rosie got her dad wrapped around her little finger?"

" _Oh yeah!"_

"What about Uncle Colby?"

" _Dunno, you'd have to ask my mom about that, but Rosie sure is cute"_

"Ok what about Nat?"

" _Twin girls. Fiona and Elsie and their two"_

"That sounds like a handful"

" _Yep, a couple of times Nat and his wife Sally have had me babysit while I've been home and I'm telling you they are a right handful! I had to call in backup"_

"Backup?"

" _My mom"_

"And let me guess, they behaved for Grandma?"

" _You guessed right, but they did give me a big hug before I left to make up for the trouble they caused"_

"So what were you going to tell me?"

" _Wha'?"_

"What you, Nat and Ryan got up to"

" _Oh…um…"_

"Colby?"

" _Thin' I'm gonn' pass ou'"_

"Nonono! Stay with me Colby; come on what did you and your brothers' get up to?"

Nothing. Silence.

"Colby! Answer me damn it!"

"David!" David turned around at Don's call, "we've reached Tom"

David sighed in relief; Tom was only fifteen feet away from Colby! David grabbed the medical supplies and ran over to the rescue team. David then wriggled his away around the rubble and reached Tom and was met with a surprise.

"Tom?! I thought you had a cut arm?!"

"Yeah…er…that was really Colby" stuttered Tom,

"But then why did he tell me it was you?"

"Because he didn't want to worry you"

"Stupid! Stupid! When I get to him!-" David stopped, remembering he hadn't gotten a response from Colby.

_Colby you had better be alright or so help me!_


	3. Chapter 3

David ignored what was happening around him, his focus was entirely on the gap the rescue team was creating to get to Colby an hour after the second collapse. David was clutching the medical supplies tightly and finally a gap small enough for him to crawl through was made and before any other rescue team member could crawl through David pushed to the front of the group and when the rescue team member protested David just glared at him daring him to stop David from getting to his partner.

David then quickly crawled through the gap and gasped at seeing the still form of Colby. He rushed forward but spun around as the gap he had just crawled through collapsed in on its self.

"David you alright?!" Called Don,

"Yeah!" replied David as he moved to Colby's side and slapped Colby's face. "Colby come on man open your eyes!" This reminded David of the time he had to do CPR on Colby and was thankful that Colby's heart was still beating strong and was still breathing.

"Come on Colby open your eyes!" commanded David and he tightened a bandage around Colby's arm.

Colby groaned and his eyes flickered open, "Dav'd?"

"Yeah it's me buddy" replied David as he leaned more into Colby's line of sight,

"You took your time" murmured Colby,

"Hey, got here as fast as I could and anyway seeing as you're awake you can tell me that story about you and your brothers"

"Huh? Oh right. Well I was 5, Nat was 9 and Ryan was 15 and as it was mother's day and Nat and I thought we'd do something for mom. Big mistake"

* * *

 

_~Flashback~_

_Colby was tucked up in bed wide awake at 5:30 am waiting for Nat to come and get him so they could make a cake for mother's day._

_Colby kept his eyes on the door and when it began to creak open he pulled the covers up above his head until he heard a whispered._

" _Hey Colby you up?" asked Nat._

" _Yeah" whispered Colby as he peaked his eyes above the covers, "the coast clear?"_

" _Yeah, come on we gotta hurry before mom and dad get up" replied Nat, Colby shot out of bed and together he and Nat made their way downstairs careful to avoid the creaky steps. Over the past three days when they had come up with their plan they had carefully investigated which steps would creak. They made it into the kitchen and checked to make sure their dad hadn't had a similar idea and got to work._

_They had decided to make a simple cake so Nat got the mixing bowl, scales and ingredients. While Colby got the recipe book, they stood on some chairs and carefully begun the task of baking their mom a cake, but unfortunately couldn't foresee the trouble they would cause._

_Nat cracked for eggs and put them in a mug for Colby to beat while he put 200g of self-rising flour and 200g of softened butter into the mixing bowl._

" _Nat I've beaten the eggs" whispered Colby, Nat turned to face his brother and gasped. Colby had managed to get egg in his hair and splattered across his face. Silently Nat took the mug and poured the egg into the bowl._

" _Right Colby I'll measure the milk you can put the baking powder and caster sugar in ok?"_

_Colby nodded enthusiastically and watched as Nat put 2 table spoons of milk into the mixture. Nat turned to put the milk and butter back into the refrigerator and missed seeing Colby put, instead of 1 tea spoon of baking powder, but 2 table spoons of baking powder into the mixture. Thankfully Colby put in the correct measurement of 200g of caster sugar. Colby happily beat in the mixture splattering himself and Nat._

_Nat then poured the mixture into the baking tray and placed it in the oven._

" _Right we gotta get it out of the oven in half an hour" said Nat, Colby nodded seriously and followed Nat out into the yard to do their chores, for once not having to be forced to do them, it was mother's day after all._

_The family lived on what used to be their grandparent's farm but after Grandma (Ellie) and Grandpa (Jordan) Granger felt too tired looking after the farm and with their dad too busy working to help out. A lot of the animals had been sold. But the family did still keep some chickens, a cat named Jetta, three dogs (one for each boy, they had each received a puppy on their fifth birthday) Ryan's dog was a Golden Retriever named Scout, Nat's dog was a Kunming Dog named Wolf for his wolf-like appearance and Colby's dog was a German Shepard puppy of six months named Levi, a goat named Spark (Grandpa had hand raised him and couldn't part with it), a ewe named Fern (which Grandma had hand raised from a lamb after finding her abandoned on the side of the road) and two horses named Scarlett and Zillah who belonged to mom and dad._

_Nat and Colby made their way to the barn and put hay in Zillah's and Scarlett's stalls and into the stall Spark and Fern shared (Ryan's job was to help muck out the stalls and turn the horses out to the paddock) Nat put the horse, sheep and goat feed into buckets and put the buckets into the stalls while Colby fed Jetta and the dogs and collected the eggs from the chickens and with Levi trotting at his heels took the eggs back to the kitchen._

_That was when Colby spotted smoke drifting out of the oven, not knowing what to do he ran out the house back to the barn, not knowing he had now woken his parents and Grandparents from the banging of the front door. Ryan was still fast asleep as all teenagers would be in the early hours of quarter to six. Levi was excitedly barking jumping up and down thinking Colby was playing with him, but Colby skidded to a halt and huffed "Nat the ovens smoking!"_

" _What?!" cried Nat as he jogged over to his brother._

" _Come see!" and Colby grabbed onto Nat's hand and dragged him into the kitchen where their parents and grandparents were now gathered._

_Colby and Nat were just in time to see their dad pull out what was supposed to be a cake, but what was a mess that had exploded in the oven becoming a charcoal mess._

" _Boys" warned dad, Colby and Nat gulped looking up at the stern face of their dad._

" _We wanted to make a cake for mom as it was mother's day" said Nat,_

" _Yeah! But I must have read the recipe wrong" added Colby,_

" _No it was my fault I should have been watching Colby" corrected Nat,_

" _No it was my fault Nat!" argued Colby,_

" _No it was mine!" protested Nat,_

" _Nuh uh!"_

" _Yeah!"_

" _I can't believe their fighting over whose fault it was" muttered Jordan as he leaned closer to his wife; Ellie just shook her head fondly watching as her grandsons tried to take the blame for the mess._

" _Boys that's enough!" ordered Anne, Colby and Nat stopped mid-sentence to look up at their mother._

" _It was a generous thought but next time leave the baking to your Grandma and I until your older ok?"_

_The boys nodded shocked that their mom wasn't yelling at them, their dad was also shocked._

" _That's it Anne?" asked Jack,_

" _Yes Jack" smiled Anne, "because they only meant well and looking at their clothes they've even done their chores. Is that right boys?"_

" _Yes mom" chorused Colby and Nat._

" _What shall we do with this… er… creation?" asked Jack holding up the attempt of a cake. Jordan took the backing tray and held it down to Levi's nose level. Levi eagerly moved forward to eat it but at one whiff of it yelped and took off outside._

_Jordan straightened up and said "well if Levi won't eat neither will I"_

" _You're always thinking of your stomach" said Ellie looking at her husband fondly._

" _Yeah" replied Jordan, making Nat and Colby giggle. They received the signal to go get cleaned up and made their way upstairs._

" _That could have gone better" said Nat,_

" _Well we know where we went wrong so there's always mom's birthday" replied Colby,_

" _Yeah you're right Colby! Let's do it!" agreed Nat._

* * *

 

~End of Flashback~

David was chuckling at the end of Colby's story and had to ask "you didn't try again for your mom's birthday did you?"

"No" replied Colby, "dad got up early because he guessed we would try again and instead had us just do our chores and make mom's breakfast"

"What was for breakfast?" asked David,

"Orange juice and cereal" Colby smiled wistfully at the memory of the mess he and Nat still managed to create.

"You planning on going out to see them?" asked David checking the bandage on Colby's arm,

"Yeah, but haven't had the chance yet. Any holiday I have had is only a couple of days and it isn't enough for a decent visit.

"Have they come out here?" asked David even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"No, Nat and Ryan have to look after their families and can't afford to bring out their families. And mom and dad need to stay and look after Grandma and Grandpa"

"Oh so it wasn't your Granger grandparents that have died?" said David awkwardly,

"No" smiled Colby, "Grandma and Grandpa Granger are still going strong at the age of 85"

"Oops" said David, and he claimed to know all about Colby after one bored stakeout when they told the other their whole life story.

"You should come out and meet my family. You'd fit right in" stated Colby,

"I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult" David replied frowning.

"Take it however you want" smirked Colby.

Their conversation was interrupted by the rescue team who soon had Colby strapped to a backboard and pulled him out and placed on a stretcher and then rushed to hospital with David sat next to him.

* * *

 

An hour later Colby was settled into a room with stitches on his arm and his left leg in a yellow cast.

David who was sat in a chair next to Colby's bed looked at the cast and asked "why yellow man?"

"Because it's different" was Colby's reply,

"That defines you alright" muttered David; he could see Colby was growing tired by his drooping eyes. "Rest Granger and I'll come see you tomorrow" Colby sluggishly waved goodbye and was asleep before David left the room.

Outside David pulled out his cell phone and dialled the number Don had given him.

"Hello Mrs Granger?... My name is David Sinclair I work with Colby…so you have been informed of what happened today…no Mrs Granger he is fine just a little tired…I can do better than send him your love Mrs Granger…you see my boss and I have arranged time off for Colby to come out and visit you for three weeks…oh no Mrs Granger I couldn't put you out like that!...But-…yes Mrs Granger I understand…yes I will take time off as well and join Colby while he visits if you're sure it won't be any trouble…ok Mrs Granger…um sorry…Anne…I'll see you next Tuesday when we land…bye" after he hung up David couldn't wait to see the look on Colby's face when he told him that Colby was able to go home for a three week visit. David was still confused on how Mrs Granger, no Anne, had roped him into coming as well. He shrugged to himself and smiled as he went to buy to plane tickets to Idaho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know in the series Colby's dad died when he was 15 but I just felt like having him alive in my story I hope that doesn't bug anyone.


	4. Epilogue

David and Colby had landed in Spokane International Airport and Colby's father Jack had picked them up, David smiled as even on crutches when Colby had spotted his dad he had hobbled as fast as he could to meet his dad. David had watched as Jack brought his youngest son in for a tight hug and didn't look like he wanted to let go anytime soon. But Jack had spotted David approaching with his and Colby's bags. Jack had released Colby and extended a hand out to David and David had happily shook hands with Jack.

"It's good to meet you sir" said David,

"Hey none of that you can just call me Jack like everybody else does" smiled Jack, "and thank you"

"For what?" asked David confused,

"For saving Colby, he always got into trouble when he was younger and your boss told Anne on the phone that you were the first one to get to Colby" commented Jack, when David looked at Jack he could see a lot of Colby in him in the shape of Jack's face and his eye and hair colour and just in the way Jack and Colby held themselves.

"No thanks needed. He may be a pain in the butt, but life wouldn't be the same without him" smiled David,

Jack nodded and then had the same cheeky grin that Colby would sometimes get, "you are right that sometimes he can be a pain in the butt"

"Hey! _He_ is standing right here ya know!" complained Colby as he tried to balance on his crutches becoming uncomfortable standing, only able to put his weight on one leg and his arms.

"Right sorry son" said Jack as he turned to face Colby and then reached down and grabbed one of the bags David had carried over.

"Dad!" complained Colby,

"What?" asked Jack,

"I can carry my own bag!"

"No you can't! Just get your butt outside and I'll tell you where to go otherwise I'll put you in a wheelchair myself. Got it?" replied Jack sternly,

"Yes dad" muttered Colby as he turned and headed towards the exit.

David and Jack shared a knowing look. David was impressed that Jack had managed to get Colby listen to advice about his health in under a minute.

Soon Jack had guided Colby and David over to a small car; Colby stopped short and looked around.

"What's wrong son?" asked Jack concerned by his son's behaviour he looked at David who shrugged in reply.

"Where's the truck?" asked Colby,

"Oh I borrowed Ryan's car because it being a two and a half hour drive I thought you'd be uncomfortable in the pickup" replied Jack as he stowed the bags in the trunk.

Colby nodded and opened the door behind the driver and tried to manoeuvre himself into the car. But dropped one of his crutches unbalancing himself "damn it" muttered Colby as he tried to pick up the fallen crutch while holding onto the side of the car. David went to pick it up but Jack reached Colby first and picked up the crutch.

"Don't you think it would be better if you were sat in the front?" asked Jack,

Colby opened his mouth to refuse looking at David, but David interrupted "I'm fine with being in the back you sit up front buddy"

"Why are you two treating me like a child?" asked Colby as he moved around to the other side of the car with his dad's help.

"Because like a child you don't know you're limits" replied Jack,

"Took the words right out of my mouth" smirked David, Colby almost unbalanced himself as he turned to glare at David.

Five minutes later they were all settled in the car and making their way to Winchester, half an hour into the journey Colby had fallen asleep with his head tipped back against the headrest. Jack looked at David through the rear-view mirror and asked while casting a look at the sleeping Colby.

"So Colby is really alright?"

"Yeah he is" smiled David, "just thinks he's more healed than he really is"

Jack laughed "that sounds like Colby alright"

Throughout the drive David and Jack swapped stories about growing up and of course the favourite subject was Colby, who fortunately remained asleep for the whole trip. When they reached Winchester Jack nudged Colby awake.

"Huh? What?" asked Colby groggily.

"We're home son" Jack smiled when Colby sat more upright and was engrossed in watching the familiar streets pass.

"When was the last time you came home Colb?" asked David,

"Last year after the Chinese thing" murmured Colby his eyes trained on the familiar buildings,

David's trained eye caught Jack's posture stiffen at the obvious mention of Colby's arrest, imprisonment and torture. Colby however remained oblivious to his father's reaction. They past a medium size building that David didn't think twice about until he saw it was the town's High School.

"That's your town's High School?!" exclaimed David,

"Yeah" smiled Colby, "not many kids that live in Winchester are the age range for High School"

"I can see that" replied David while looking out of the windows picturing a younger Colby wandering the streets with his friends.

Soon they pulled up at what David assumed was the Granger family farm. David helped Colby out of the car despite Colby's complaints that he could manage just fine on his own. Jack retrieved the bags from the trunk and led David and Colby to the farmhouse. As soon as they entered through the front door two little girls screeched "Uncle Colby!" and threw themselves at Colby toppling him onto the couch.

"Elise! Fiona! I told you to be careful around Uncle Colby" lectured a man similar in looks to Colby, who David assumed was Nat.

"Hiya Nat" greeted Colby smiling up at his older brother.

"You can't go a full year without hurting yourself can you?" said Nat as he leaned down and hugged Colby.

"That's harsh" said Colby slightly affronted.

"Harsh but true" added a voice of a person who just walked into the living room.

"Ryan!" beamed Colby hugging his eldest brother. Once Colby and his brothers had exchanged greetings Colby pointed to David and said "Ryan, Nat meet my best friend David Sinclair"

Ryan and Nat shook David's hand and they exchanged greetings and turned around to see Colby lift little Rosie onto his lap with Elise and Fiona sat either side of him hugging him and Toby and William were sat at his feet. David smiled seeing a new side to Colby as he talked with his nephews and nieces.

"Uncle Colby" said Toby looking up at his Uncle with admiration,

"Yeah Toby?" replied Colby as he looked down at Toby gently moving his head away from Rosie who tried to pull at his hair.

"Are you ok?" asked Toby, his voice full of concern.

Before Colby could say anything William jumped in and said, "of course Uncle Colby is ok Toby! He's Uncle Colby he always saves the day and is always ok"

David had to smile at William's four year old reasoning, and Toby seemed to think about his brother's words but being six he was beginning to understand things and seeing the cast on his Uncle's leg made him ask Colby "you really ok Uncle Colby?"

"Yeah Toby I'm really ok" smiled Colby.

Toby nodded and then brightened "guess what Uncle Colby?!"

"What?" laughed Colby as Toby was basically shaking with excitement.

"Mom and dad said I can have a puppy for my seventh birthday and Mrs Hollis' German Shepard had some puppies last week and said I could have one of them. Dad said you had a German Shepard what was its name?"

Colby smiled "I named him Levi", Rosie, Elise and Fiona became bored and wandered off to find toys and Colby relaxed into the couch.

"Why?" asked William, he wasn't jealous of Toby as his parents had said he could have a puppy when he turned seven.

"I don't know really. I do remember at school we were reading this book, that I don't know the name of, written by someone with the surname Leviston and I thought Levi sounded cool for a dog's name" replied Colby, as he spoke his eyes drifted over to a framed photograph of himself at aged seven standing next a then two year old Levi.

"How long do German Shepherds live for?" asked Toby,

"About ten to twelve years but some can live for fifteen years" replied Colby,

"How long did Levi live for?" William asked as he retrieved the very photo Colby looked at moments before.

"Levi actually lived for seventeen years" smiled Colby taking the photo William handed to him.

"Wow I hope my puppy lives that long" Toby said,

"Have you picked the puppy?" asked Colby looking down at Toby,

"Yeah! He's all black with tan paws and a tan nose"

"What are you going to call him?"

"Coal, cuz he's mostly black. Is that a good name Uncle Colby?"

"Yeah I think it is, because it's different. You don't get many German Shepherds called Coal" Toby smiled up at Colby and then he and William scampered off to entertain themselves around the farm.

David came over and sat beside Colby and looked at the photo and smiled "that's cute"

"Yeah Levi was, even when he stopped being a pup"

"Not Levi. You" David smiled,

"Huh?" asked Colby as he turned and faced David.

"I mean look at you all seven years old and that big goofy grin don't you just look cute" smirked David,

"You did not just call me _cute_ " demanded Colby,

"I think I just did" laughed David. Colby just shook his head then heaved himself up and went out onto the porch. And as always David went with him.

"So how many animals does your family have now compaired to when you were growing up?" asked David as he looked around the farm and saw Toby and William jumping from a fence into a pile of hay.

"Well just before I was five my parents and grandparents sold off a lot of the animals because my grandparents became too tired to work on the farm so we just had some chickens, which as you can see they still have today, a cat, but today they have two cats my mom found them as kittens in a box on the side of the road the last time I came home. We had two horses which my parents ended up breeding from. One of the horses, Scarlett, her great granddaughter is expected to give birth next month, so today they have three, soon to be four horses. We had a goat and a sheep and three dogs. Today they have two goats and ten sheep with two cows. And soon Toby will have his dog running around the place. As Nat really wanted to work the farm so is slowly building it up to what it was like before I was five and he is also growing some crops this summer" Colby explained. David smiled; as Colby had talked to him his eyes had lit up.

"So were you close to Levi?"

"Yeah he was always following me around and funnily enough remember Toby saying he was getting his puppy from Mrs Hollis? Well I got Levi from her" smiled Colby,

"Do you want another dog?"

"Yeah, but with the hours we work I can't keep it locked up in my apartment especially when we can be stuck at the office for 36 hours" replied Colby forlornly, he did want another dog, he was tempted to go see Mrs Hollis. But the reasons he just told David kept him sitting where he was.

"You know you probably could bring a dog to work and leave it downstairs with the K – 9 unit while we worked a case and the dog would only be in the car while we were at the crime scene" pointed out David,

Colby groaned, "Don't tempt me David. I really would want another dog"

"Well I gave you options so how about tomorrow I take you to see Mrs Hollis so you can pick out a pup" smiled David, he could see Colby was inching towards saying yes; David had one more card up his sleeve. "Also your neighbour keeps two dogs in his apartment so obviously you can keep a dog in your apartment"

"Yeah I guess" replied Colby,

David smiled triumphantly; he knew that to some Colby's reply could mean yes and no to getting a dog. But to David it mean a yes. Colby and David looked at the front door and Anne walked out holding two bottles of beer and handed them over.

"So going to see Mrs Hollis tomorrow Colby?" asked Anne sharing a knowing look with David,

"Yeah" smiled Colby,

"Good because I don't like thinking of you living on your own miles away from your family"

"Mom! This can't be about you having grandkids seeing as you've some from Nat and Ryan!" exclaimed Colby choosing to ignore David's snort of laughter.

"I know honey but it would greatly comfort me knowing you've settled down" replied Anne pulling up a chair and sitting opposite Colby and David.

"So you haven't told your family about you and Liz?" asked David feigning innocence.

Colby spluttered as he tried not to choke on his sip of beer. Anne leaned forward taking an interest.

"Oh you've met someone Colby?"

"I work with her"

"But you like her?"

"She's my friend so of course I like her!"

"Fine" sighed Anne, "as the younger generations say 'you like like her'"

"Mom!" protested Colby,

Anne rose from her seat and patted Colby's shoulder "I look forward to meeting your Liz" and then Anne walked back into the house.

Colby gaped and turned to glare at David, "what the hell was that?!"

"Me helping you in the right direction everyone knows you like Liz in a romantic way and she likes you in that way, you two are just too stubborn to see it" David then walked into the house and Colby sat back and thought about what David had said. David really had given him a lot to think about.

* * *

 

~One month later~

Colby sat at his desk completing some paperwork and looked at his phone and smiled. Ryan had just sent him a photo of his new puppy. Liz walked over and caught him smiling at his phone.

"Someone send you a joke?" Liz asked,

"Huh? Oh no you see I got a puppy from a lady in my hometown, I'm going to get him in two weeks and my brother just sent me a photo of him" replied Colby holding up his phone to Liz,

"Awww! What's he called?"

"Riley. Do you think that suits him?" asked Colby looking up at Liz,

Liz smiled "I think that suits him very well"

Colby then remembered his mom's and David's words when he had gone home last month and had realized he did 'like like' Liz so sucked in a breath and asked "hey Liz do you want to watch a movie and go to dinner on Friday?" he looked down waiting for the 'no' he was sure to come.

"Yeah sure" agreed Liz.

Colby looked up sharply "yeah?"

Liz nodded smiling, "I finish work at five"

"Huh that's funny so do I" replied Colby,

"So you can pick me up then"

"Sure I could do that" smiled Colby,

"See you tomorrow Colby" said Liz as she walked away.

"Yeah see you" replied Colby smiling; David and his mom were so going to gloat about this.


End file.
